


Dead Space: Balance

by orphan_account



Category: Dead Space, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Gen, Gore, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Survival Horror, The Plot Thickens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-14 07:42:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13585443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A routine mission responding to a distress call turns out to be anything but. A nightmare scenario unfolds within the halls of a small colony on Hyperion. A seven-person extraction team has their work cut out for them.(Or, the Dead Space/TAZ AU nobody asked for. Tags and summary will be updated as chapters are added)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Dead Space/TAZ AU, which is about as self-indulgent as a fic can get. I'm hoping to update this on a weekly basis, so we'll see how that goes.
> 
> Some quick notes: This takes place in Dead Space canon, and tags will be updated as chapters are added. It's rated Mature for eventual violence/gore (typical of Dead Space but slightly toned down).
> 
> Barry/Lup/Lucretia is pre-established in this universe and featured but it's not the focus of the fic and I didn't want to clog any ship tags.

It’s three in the morning when the small alarm on Lup’s communicator goes off. She groans and leans over Barry to grab it, and squints as the harsh light of the screen cuts through the darkness. It takes a second before she can read the message flashing in red, but when her eyes finally adjust, she huffs and drops her communicator onto her chest.

“Bar,” she says, voice heavy with sleep, “Bar, wake up. ‘m gettin’ called in. You prob’ly are too.” Barry grunts and rolls onto his side away from her. 

“Noooo,” he rasps, but he sits up and shuffles over to his dresser to find his own communicator blinking and buzzing. He picks it up, holding it three inches from his face because his glasses are still on the bedside table, and groans. “Really? Right now?”

Lup starts to sit up in bed, and her hair is sticking up in every which way as she rubs the palms of her hands into her eyes. “Why can’t people wait until business hours to send distress signals, huh? It’s fuckin’ rude is what it is.”

Barry pulls on a fresh pair of jeans from the stack of clean laundry on the armchair and starts rummaging in the dresser for a shirt. “You think the whole team’s getting called in?”

“With how many exclamation points Cap’n’port put in the message? I’d be surprised if everybody _wasn’t_ there.” Lup rolls out of bed grudgingly and pulls off her undershirt to wriggle into a bra and a long-sleeved shirt. “What level of professionalism are you going for?”

“Jeans and a polo, m’dear.”

“Cool.” Lup slips into her cargo pants and steel-toed boots, and ties her hair into a messy ponytail. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

 

\-----

Standing at the front of the meeting room is Cap’n’port, who looks as tired as Lup feels, slightly unfocused eyes and a slumped posture that says, ’I haven’t had my three cups of coffee yet and I’m barely alive.’ The only one who doesn’t look like exhaustion incarnate is Lucretia, and that’s only because she never went to sleep in the first place, if the ink stains on her hands are anything to go off of. Lup is always a little impressed by the fact that she still writes with a pen and paper. It’s the year 2510 and yet here she is, still using a notebook like it’s freaking 2100. It’s cute, no question about that, but _so_ weird. 

Cap’n’port has been talking for at least five minutes and Lup has missed all of it thinking about her girlfriend, and it takes a lot of willpower to focus on what her captain is saying.

“-we just got the distress signal and we’re heading out as soon as possible, so you have twenty minutes to get your shit together and meet me at the Starblaster.” Magnus groans, and Davenport shoots him a look. “I don’t like it either, but this is the job that you signed up for and if you don’t like it, feel free to put in an application with the night cleaning crew when we get back. But for now, I need you ready to go in twenty, so either you go pack a change of underwear or you go without.”

“Geez,” Lup whispers to Barry as they head back to their dorm, “I didn’t realize how badly he _needs_ those three cups of coffee.”

\----

Lup has a work bag already packed, with clean clothes and toiletries and a few books that she’s definitely going to get around to reading one of these days. She helps Barry get ready and they’re heading towards the hangar with ten minutes to spare.

“So I was maybe spacing a little, what’s the job?”

“Distress signal from Hyperion. Davenport says there’s a settlement being built there and I dunno what the problem is, but apparently it’s pretty bad.”

“Hyperion? Oh, shit, I heard about that! They’re running some kind of sustainable mining thing, right? After the whole Aegis VII thing and all the other moons they’ve fucked up.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that, but Lucretia might know. She’s usually on top of the news.”

Taako is coming out of his room just as Lup and Barry are passing it, and he’s wearing leggings, boots, and a thick blue sweater. His hair is in a braid that he clearly wore to bed, and Lup reaches out instinctively to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear before he bats her hand away.

“Hands off, Lulu, this is _exactly_ the look cha’boy is going for. I'm calling it ‘guilt-trip for interrupting my beauty sleep’. So are you ready for whatever dumb bullshit this is?” 

“Hell no,” Lup says, and Barry laughs. “What do you think it is?”

“Probably somebody burnt some toast and some other clown smelled it and freaked. You remember when we got called in because an entire colony couldn’t figure out how to reset a tripped breaker?”

“Jesus, yeah, that was some bullshit. At least we got paid.”

“Amen to that.”

Lup can feel Barry tensing up as they walk, and she slips a hand into his back pocket. “Everything cool, babe?”

“Yeah, just… you said Aegis VII, what if it’s like that? What if there’s the kind of… weird outbreak? People going crazy and killing each other? You think we’re gonna have to deal with that?”

“Nah,” Taako says, “that was all ‘cuz of the magnetic field or something, wasn’t it? It was a whole illegal operation and they weren’t following protocol and they fucked up the moon. I think.”

“I don’t know-” Barry says, but they’re at the hangar and Davenport is waving them on board.  
The Starblaster is an extraction ship, and it’s an older model with plenty of dents and scrapes, but no matter what the CEC tries to tell Davenport, he refuses to pilot anything else. The Starblaster is his, all his. It’s a smaller ship despite the large crew, but it’s well-kept and it’s become a second home to most of them. Lup and Barry leave their bags in their cabin and sit at the table with Taako to wait for the rest of the crew. Lucretia arrives and greets Lup with a kiss before stowing her bag. Merle is next, and Magnus is the last to arrive, running up the gangplank with seconds to spare, and Davenport gives him another look as he takes a swig of his first coffee of the day.

“Okay,” he says, “quick refresher for those of you who weren’t paying attention. We’ve got a distress signal from Hyperion, we’re going to check it out and do what we need to do to help, and then we’re coming back and actually getting a good night’s sleep. The signal they sent was urgent but this shouldn’t be more than a routine trip. Suits are where they always are, and we should be there in about five hours. I want everyone ready to go when we get there so if you’re going to take a nap, set a damn alarm.” He takes a long swig of his coffee, draining it, and gets up to pour himself another. “Let’s get this done so we can go home.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Merle says, and pulls a flask from his vest. At the look he gets from Magnus, he rolls his eyes. “It’s telba, don’t shit your pants.” He winks at Lup, though, and she has to mask her laugh as a cough.

“Alright, we’re taking off in T-minus ten so do whatever you’re going to do and remember, five hours.” Davenport heads to the cockpit and Magnus yawns.

“‘m gonna take a nap. If I’m not up in three hours, somebody come poke me.”

“If you’re not up in three hours we’re launching you into space,” Taako says, but Magnus just laughs and heads for his bunk.

“A nap doesn’t sound half bad,” Lucretia says, and looks at Lup. “Are you in?”

Lup stretches and nods. “Hell yeah. Mama needs her beauty sleep. Bar?”

“Nah, I’m gonna see what I can find out about this settlement. I have a weird feeling about this job.”

“Okay, nerdo. Same deal as Mags, if we’re not up by a reasonable time, come in with some pots and pans.”

“You got it. Sleep tight, babe.” He presses a kiss to her lips, and pulls up a screen. 

Taako heads to his bunk too, leaving Merle and Barry at the table. Lup thinks about Barry’s hesitation, but brushes it off. He’s a nervous guy, always fearing the worst. This is going to be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick glance out the window confirms that they’re almost at the temporary housing hangar, and something in Lup’s stomach sinks as she looks at the structure. There are no lights on within it and even from several miles in the air it looks…. Quiet. Dark and empty. 
> 
> “Shit,” Barry whispers.
> 
> “I’m not getting any response from local comms,” Davenport says over the speakers, “and it’s looking like a total power outage. Everybody hang on, this might get bumpy.”

Lup’s head is pillowed on Lucretia’s chest when the door creaks open and Barry switches on the light.

“It’s been three hours, and we need to start suiting up and going over the plan.”

Lup opens an eye to glare at him, but sits up nonetheless and shakes Lucretia’s shoulder gently.

“You two get up and get ready, I have to go wake literally everybody else up.”

“Mm.” Lucretia stirs without opening her eyes, and starts to roll away from Lup. “I’m still sleeping.”

“Not anymore you’re not. You’ve gotta stop staying up so late.”

“Hm.” She rolls onto her stomach and sighs before pushing herself up. “Do we _really_ have to do this. I mean, _really_?”

“Well, we’re three hours away from home so unless you know how to travel seventy billion lightyears or whatever without a ship, I’d say yeah.”

“Why do I do this job again?” She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, putting her boots, and Lup has to busy herself with her own boots before she gets distracted by the sliver of dark skin where Lucretia’s shirt has ridden up.

“Um, last I heard it was because you like getting paid to document events and because you wanted health insurance.”

“That sounds fake, but okay.” Lucretia stands up and stretches. “Time to go pretend like my brain isn’t still in sleep mode.”

“That’s the spirit. Shall we?” Lup holds her arm out, and Lucretia twines her arm through the crook of her elbow. 

“We shall.”

\---

Everyone in the equipment room looks about as rough as they did during the initial briefing except for Barry, who’s moving around aimlessly, fidgeting and pacing like he does when he’s nervous. Lup walks over to him to put a hand on his shoulder, and he gives her a thin smile. When Taako finally shuffles into the room, Barry backs away and stands at the head of the circle they’ve formed.

“Okay, so we’re still two hours out from Hyperion but here’s what I’ve learned: the distress signal came from a settlement that’s still being built. It’s basically one big construction zone, and the only people there are construction workers and their families. All of those people are living in temporary housing close to the settlement that’s getting built. So we’re headed there first and hopefully that’ll be that.”

“Question.” Magnus raises his hand.

“Yes?”

“What are the immediate threats?”

“Uh, hopefully nothing. There’s no record of hostile species on Hyperion or even in the area. We’re not sure what the reason for the distress call was, but there’s no real evidence that it’s something dangerous.”

“Cool. Still though, as the official safety officer, I say we use caution. No reason to go in there all sloppy and careless. I want everyone using the buddy system and maintaining good communication.”

“Yaaaaawn. Why do humans pick the most boring plans?” Taako is rubbing his eyes, 

Magnus puts his hands on his hips and turns to face Taako. “Sorry, did you have something better than ‘be careful so we don’t all die’?”

“No, I just wanted to make it clear that if _I_ was in charge I’d do something more interesting.”

Lup snorts. “If you were in charge, we’d all still be in bed.”

Taako grins and makes finger guns at her. “Lulu gets it.”

“Okay, enough banter. Everybody suit up and do your equipment checks.” Barry still looks distracted, and Lup winds an arm around his waist.

“Want help climbing into that big, sexy suit of yours?”

“Yeah, as soon as you can explain to me how my extraction suit is even a _tiny bit_ sexy.”

“Big boots?”

Barry laughs. “I’m not gonna say anything because I love you.”

“And I’m deffo gonna count that as a win. At least let me zip you up?”

“What kind of husband would I be if I refused an offer that sweet?”

“The dumb-but-handsome kind.”

Lup helps him to zip up his suit and secure the zipper, and he does the same for her. She feels at home in the suit, probably an indication of how much time she’s spent in it. It’s a snug fit, but not tight, and certainly not baggy- though to be fair, all of their suits were designed to fit that way, each one tailored to each individual. The Concordance Extraction Corporation may be a lot of things, but they’re not cheap when it comes to equipment. 

Barry is looking out one of the ship’s windows, biting his lip. Lup slips an arm around his waist and presses herself against him.

“What’s got you freaked out?”

“I don’t know. There’s nothing- nothing we _should_ worry about, like I said, no hostile species even in the vicinity of Hyperion. There’s no data saying that we’re heading into a dangerous situation. I just can’t shake the feeling that something’s really fucking wrong.” He looks tired and stressed, so Lup squeezes him reassuringly.

“Listen, whatever it is, we can handle it. We’re the best fuckin’ crew the CEC’s got.”

“Statistically, that’s not really true-”

“-THE BEST CREW. Is us. We’re the best. And I promise I’ll protect you and keep you safe.”

“I know you will.” Barry presses his forehead to hers as he pulls her into a hug.

“Get a room!” Merle calls, as Taako yells, “Y’all nasty!”

“Fuck you, Taako, calling me nasty when you and your boy-toy were making out in _my_ kitchen-”

“Weird that you’re calling it _your_ kitchen when we both know I’m the only one who cooks in it-”

“-it’s in _my quarters_ and you weren’t even _invited_ , you were _drunk_ -”

“Don’t get bitchy with me just because you only have boring vanilla married sex now, babe, you’re the one who said yes to the dress.”

“You have three seconds to either run or beg for mercy and then I’m pulling those big dumb ears right off your head.”

“Like you could catch me.” In one smooth motion, Taako flips her off with both hands as he turns and sprints down the hallway to his bunk. His door slams, and then from behind it he yells, “And your ears are bigger!”

Lup huffs and wrinkles her nose. “Anybody want for a brother? I’ve got one I’m looking to trade.”

Before anyone can take her up on the offer, Davenport’s voice crackles through the speakers. “Alright, gang, we’ve entered Hyperion’s orbit and I’m taking us down towards the settlement. I’m headed for the temporary housing since the actual loading bay hasn’t been built yet. Help me keep an eye out for anything dangerous.”

Magnus goes over to the window and looks out. “Woah, this place is bigger than I thought it’d be.”

Merle waddles over to join him. “Damn. How long’ve they been working on this?”

“Uh, I think the project started a year or two ago? I don’t really remember.” Barry is peering intently out the window, eyes flicking back and forth as he scans the moon’s surface. “I don’t see a lot of lights on.”

“Yeah, but that’s the construction area. They wouldn’t have that many lights, would they?” Magnus’s eyebrows are furrowed as he squints.

“They have to be able to see what they’re doing.”

“Maybe it was a power outage?” Lucretia offers, grabbing her tablet and stylus and taking notes. “That might warrant a distress call.”

“Oh my god, Taako was right, it’s another case of people not knowing where the breaker is. Why are humans so _dumb_?”

“Hey!” Magnus says. Barry just frowns at her, and Lucretia shoots her a dirty look.

Lup’s ears twitch, and she rolls her eyes. “SOME humans, _sorry_ , why are SOME humans so dumb.”

“Thank you,” Lucretia says, and Magnus just huffs. 

Before Lup can get another good eye-roll in, the ship shakes as Davenport starts to take it down. A quick glance out the window confirms that they’re almost at the temporary housing hangar, and something in Lup’s stomach sinks as she looks at the structure. There are no lights on within it and even from several miles in the air it looks…. Quiet. Dark and empty. 

“Shit,” Barry whispers.

“I’m not getting any response from local comms,” Davenport says over the speakers, “and it’s looking like a total power outage. Everybody hang on, this might get bumpy.”

Docking the ship goes smoothly- no matter what he says, Davenport is the best pilot the CEC has ever had. There are several spots where ships should be that are empty, and the few remaining ships look like they’ve been stripped for parts.

“It looks like a junkyard,” Magnus says. “Aren’t there people like… living here? Using this area?”

“Maybe we entered the wrong hangar. Maybe this _is_ a junkyard.” Lucretia doesn’t sound sure about that, though, and scribbles something down.

Once the ship is docked and the engine is shut down, Davenport joins everyone in the equipment room and pulls on his own suit as he talks. 

“We should start with a quick recon sweep- just try to get some idea as to what’s going on. Check for potential hazards. Gas leaks, live wires, flooding, whatever. I’m going to stay with the ship and I want Lucretia and Merle here with me. Lup and Magnus, you check the east wing. Barry and… where’s Taako?”

“Here, m’dude.” Taako saunters out of his room, hair braided and pinned in a bun. “You said it’s me and Barry?”

“Yes, and thanks for joining us. So you and Barry are checking the west wing and coming back here in twenty. Keep your comms on. I want open lines of communication. If we’re going to help these people, we need to know what the problem is.”

“You got it, Cap’n.” Magnus salutes, and Lup and Taako roll their eyes at each other.

“Be careful. We don’t know what’s out there.”

“Should they take weapons?” Merle glances at the small arsenal on the far wall.

“You shouldn’t need them, lord willing. Just don’t go rushing into any dangerous situations. Think ‘sneaky’.”

“Alright. Everybody, comms on, helmets on.” Lup’s own helmet seals around her head with a hiss, and she powers up her communicator. She takes a look at the crew and everyone’s faces mirror the uneasiness she feels. Something is wrong here. She just doesn’t know what.

Stepping off the Starblaster has never felt worse. Lup hugs Barry and Taako, tells them to be safe as they head down the western corridor. She turns to Magnus and grimaces.

“Ready, big guy?”

“I guess. Let’s get this over with.”

The door to the eastern hallway slides open slowly with a hiss, and Lup takes a deep breath. Time to get to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lup’s heart is pounding in her ears, she distantly recognizes the wet sound coming closer and closer. She looks up and coming at her through the darkness is-
> 
> A monster. An abomination. A mass of bloody flesh come to life, dragging itself towards her by reaching out a fat, fleshy tentacle, dropping it to the floor with a _whap_ and pulling itself towards her. It doesn’t have eyes, or a face, or even limbs other than the singular tendril. It opens a mouth that Lup didn’t know existed and lets out a terrifying, ear-piercing scream.
> 
> And it lunges at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated! Things get gory in this chapter, and descriptively so. Violence and gore content is typical of Dead Space.

The hallway is dark, and the lights on Lup and Magnus’s suits do little to illuminate it. They can see a few feet in front of themselves and that’s about it.

“This is creepy,” Magnus whispers.

“It’s just the power outage. Probably. Shit!” There’s a noise further down the hallway, like metal bouncing off of the floor. It’s just a small _clink_ but it sets off the alarm bells in Lup’s head.

“What was that?” Magnus hisses, and Lup holds her arm out. She stands there for a second, just listening, ears straining to pick up any more noises. There’s something in the distance, some sort of wet noise like a sock full of pudding being dropped. When she says as much to Magnus, he gives her a look.

“First, I didn’t hear anything and second, what the fuck?”

“If you’d’ve had to live with Taako for a couple hundred years, you’d know.”

“Thank god I don’t.”

Lup’s ear twitches towards the noise as it happens again. It’s closer this time, just a little. She takes a step forward, then another. Gesturing for Magnus to hang back, she creeps slowly down the hallway, trying to figure out what the noise is. Her light still isn’t providing much in the way of long-distance illumination, but when she takes a step and feels her foot hit something soft, she looks down and freezes. Her boot is resting on a chunk of… something, and that something is sitting in a pool of what can only be blood. 

“Fuck,” she whispers, “ _fuck!_ ” The light on her suit isn’t showing her the source of the blood, or even how far the puddle goes. As Lup’s heart is pounding in her ears, she distantly recognizes the wet sound coming closer and closer. She looks up and coming at her through the darkness is-

A monster. An abomination. A mass of bloody flesh come to life, dragging itself towards her by reaching out a fat, fleshy tentacle, dropping it to the floor with a _whap_ and pulling itself towards her. It doesn’t have eyes, or a face, or even limbs other than the singular tendril. It opens a mouth that Lup didn’t know existed and lets out a terrifying, ear-piercing scream.

And it lunges at her.

The speed at which it moves takes her by surprise, and it’s only the instinctive reaction born of years of training that has her kicking it, steel-toed boot connected with its gaping mouth with a sickening crack.

“Magnus! We gotta get the fuck out of here! Get that door open!” She doesn’t stop to look at the monster, doesn’t stop to do anything, just turns and runs as fast as she can back towards Magnus. He’s pressing the button to open it, jabbing it over and over as the door slowly starts to open. Lup reaches him just as it’s open wide enough for them to fit through, and she grabs his arm without stopping and drags him through. She mashes the button to close it, breathing hard and glaring into the darkness, watching for the monster, praying she doesn’t see it.

The doors hiss shut, sealing the hallway and leaving Lup slumped against the wall and Magnus staring at her.

“What was that? What happened?”

“It was… There was a fucking… a _monster_ , I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like that before. And there was blood, a lot of blood, and-” Lup’s eyes go wide. “Taako! And Barry! _Fuck!_ ” She pulls her comm off her belt, clicks it on and whispers, “Taako? Barry? Guys, come in, this is urgent, you need to listen, get _out_ and back to the ship, _now!_ ”

The comm is silent for a second, and then Taako’s voice comes through. “Lup? Lup, what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m _fine_ but you’re not gonna be if you and Bar don’t get the fuck outta there!”

“Shit,” Taako’s voice gets quieter, and Lup can’t tell if he’s moving away from the comm or whispering. “Barry, we need to go back, Lup says- oh, FUCK.”

“Taako? Taako, I’m coming, just hang on-”

Lup is already running for the door to the western hallway, punching the button to open the doors, and seconds after they open, Taako and Barry come tearing out.

“Close it close it close it-” Lup is mashing the button again as Taako shifts anxiously in front of the door. It closes without incident, and for a moment, everyone is silent. 

“Are you two okay?” Barry asks, and Lup and Magnus both nod. “We are too. Did you see- or did Magnus…?”

“I did,” Lup says. “You?”

“Yeah. Was it a… Jesus, it was like a _person_ but it wasn’t. Like a… like a fucking corpse come to life, like- god, this sounds stupid, but like a zombie. Was that what you saw?”

Lup knits her eyebrows. “No. No, it was like a blob, like a… fleshy nasty mess. Probably the least human fuckin’ thing I’ve ever seen.”

“But it came at you?”

“Yeah. And there was blood, a pool of it, and I didn’t see a body, but… Yeah.”

Barry breathes out through his nose. “Christ. Okay. We go back, tell everybody what happened. Figure out where to go from there. I _knew_ something was off, I said so-”

“No, you were right, we should’ve listened, et cetera et cetera. I’ll drop a few hundred credits and get you your ‘Barry Is Always Right’ trophy when we’re back home safe and not dead. For now, we need to let everybody know what’s up.”

Taako shoots Lup a look that she knows all too well- he knows she’s freaking out and trying to hide it. She shakes her head at him and he presses his lips together. As they walk back to the ship, they press their shoulders together. The pressure of Taako’s arm against hers is reassuring, and she grits her teeth and swallows down her panic.

\---

Lup, Barry, Magnus, and Taako are sat at the table across from Davenport, Merle, and Lucretia. As Lup speaks, Lucretia is writing furiously.

“-so you’re saying what you saw is different from what Barry saw?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t humanoid. More like… I dunno, an animated lump of flesh. It was moving around with this tendril and it had a mouth but that was about the most human thing about it.”

“And Barry, you and Taako saw what looked like a person.”

“I mean, technically? It was more like a corpse than a living person. I didn’t get a great look at it on account of how I was running away but it was… decaying.”

“Like a fuckin’ crappy movie monster. If it hadn’t been trying to crawl up my ass cha’boy woulda laughed. That shit has no business existing in real life.”

Davenport sighs deeply and rubs his temples. “Well, this isn’t good.”

“So what… What are we dealing with here, exactly?” Merle is clutching his bible, holding it to his chest like he does when he gets jittery.

“I don’t know. Does our chief scientific officer have any ideas?”

Barry rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “I asked you not to call me that, that’s not even my job title-”

“Nerds get nerd titles, oh dearest brother-in-law.”

“-BUT no, I really don’t know. My guess is it’s some kind of contagion. A disease. The fact that we’re not dead means it probably isn’t airborne, but I don’t know how it spreads. I don’t know what the onset is, either. Maybe we _are_ infected, maybe we won’t show signs until we’re back home-”

“-OR it’s fine and we’re fine and we still have a job to do so less freaking out and more planning on how to rescue whatever survivors there are. Somebody sent that distress signal just a few hours ago. There’s gotta be someone alive here.” As he’s talking, Magnus is examining the wall of weaponry. He picks up a plasma cutter, testing the weight of it, and puts it down on the table.

“We’re gonna need weapons, for sure. And we’re probably gonna need all hands on deck. If there’s two of those monsters, there’s probably more. We need all the help we can get.”

“I’m not leaving the Starblaster,” Davenport says, and Magnus nods. 

“That’s fine. You keep her safe, we’ll send survivors your way.”

“Hold on, I’ve got a map of this place somewhere, I think.” Barry is rummaging through the files on the table, and it takes a minute but he pulls out a blueprint triumphantly. “So we’re here in the hangar, and it looks like living quarters and the cafeteria are to the east, and there’s a power station and a… chapel? To the west. I think we should go to the power station.”

“What if it’s a waste of time and people die while we’re trying to turn on the lights? I mean, the power is already out. There’s no guarantee we can turn it back on. I say we head to the living quarters and try to find survivors.”

“I agree with Merle. Our priority is rescue. Once we’re sure we’ve got everyone, then we can try to figure out what the hell happened here.” Magnus points to the living quarters on the map. “We’re going here. All of us, except Cap’n’port. So get a weapon, get some ammo, and let’s get ready to rumble.”

“Super cool line, Mags,” Taako snorts and picks up a pulse rifle and several pulse rounds- same as Lup- and loads the magazine. Merle picks up a rivet gun, Magnus loads his plasma cutter, Lucretia chooses a javelin gun, and Barry hesitates for a second before going with a plasma cutter. 

“Everyone got enough ammo?”

“I sure fuckin’ hope so, my guy.”

“Alright.” Magnus moves towards the door and steps through it when it slides open. “Let’s go save some lives.”

\---

Six suit lights, plus lights from weapons, illuminate the east hallway much better than Lup’s single helmet light. In the light, tt’s a grisly scene- the walls are smeared with blood, and the puddle of blood Lup stepped in came from a mauled corpse further down the hallway. 

“Je- _sus_ ,” Lucretia breathes. “What the hell-”

Lup’s ears twitch as she hears a familiar, wet sound. She turns towards it, sees the _thing_ that came after her, and feels her stomach drop. It’s dragging itself towards her, towards her friends. Taako sees it too, whispers, “That it?”

Lup nods, and Taako steps past her, toward it even as it’s speeding up, pulling itself across the floor faster and faster. And just as it’s almost upon him he lifts his foot and stomps on the thing with a wet, sickly crunch. He brings his boot down on it, again and again, and when he finally stops, it looks like the floor of a butcher shop. Flesh and old, thick blood splatter Taako’s suit, from his boots to his thighs, and there’s not much of the original _thing_ left. He grimaces, and scrapes his boot against the ground. 

Everyone is staring at him, and Magnus says, “Christ, go overboard much?”

“Hey, it tried to fuck with my sis. That’s a crime punishable by death. Plus, Lup would’ve done about the same thing.”

“Gross as that was, you ain’t lying.”

“Whoa.” Merle is turned, ignoring the carnage and facing the far wall. “Check this shit out.”

**CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS** is written on the wall in what almost has to be blood, and there’s a legless corpse slumped on the floor beneath it. 

“Cut off their limbs? What does _that_ mean?”

“I guess the limbs of the monsters? But why the limbs? Why not a good clean headshot?”

“Dunno,” Lup says, “but we’re probably gonna find out.”

\---

As the six of them make their way towards the living quarters, they pass more bodies, all maimed in some horrific way. There are body parts scattered around, and it’s hard to tell which bodies they originally belonged to. The hall is dead silent other than the sound of boots on tile- until it’s very suddenly _not_. There’s an ungodly screech, like the one Lup heard earlier, except it seems to be coming from every direction all at once. On instinct, the six of them press their backs together, watching all angles, and Merle is the first to see them.

“Look,” he says, “behind us. There’s three of ‘em.”

“Three in front, too,” Lucretia says, and grips the javelin gun tighter. “Magnus, on your signal.”

“They’re moving real slow. Wait until they’re closer, we can’t afford to waste any- FUCK!”

The figures surrounding them break into a sprint, wobbling as they run, still screaming. Lup grits her teeth, aims, pulls the trigger, and watches one of the monsters catch the rounds in its chest. It staggers, stumbles like it’s going to fall, and then it regains its balance and keeps coming towards her. She fires again, and takes off the thing’s right leg. Another round drops it when she severs its right arm, and she yells, “The wall was right! Go for the limbs!”

Taako’s back is pressed against hers, and she can feel the recoil as he fires. “Got one!” He yells, and shoots again. Magnus blows one of the monsters’ legs off with deadly precision, decapitates the other, and spins to help Merle, Taako, and Lucretia with the remaining two.

Merle is handy with the rivet gun, but Lucretia is struggling to land a shot with the javelin gun. She’s fired twice now and both bolts have gone zooming past the monster that’s closest to her. She curses, aims, and hits the thing square between where its eyes should be. It stumbles backwards, screeches, but keeps coming. 

“Are you _fucking kidding_ -”

Taako takes its head clean off with a spray of bullets, and Merle manages to dispatch the last one with surprising accuracy. They look around, watching for movement, not lowering their weapons until a solid minute of stillness has passed.

“...was that an ambush? Are these things pack hunters?”

“I don’t know. That was- what _was_ that? They were everywhere, like they _knew_ -”

“We really need to be careful. That could have gone much worse.” Lup looks over at Lucretia, sees the frustration on her face. “You good, Luc?”

“Other than the part where I can’t hit a target that’s ten feet away, sure.”

“Are you kiddin’? You nailed that sunnavabitch between the eyes, that was badass!” Merle puts his hand up for a high-five, which Lucretia reluctantly returns.

“I still didn’t kill it. It was still coming.”

“I think that’s the… ‘Cut off their limbs,’ that thing. I don’t know _why_ , still, but that seemed to be the trick.”

Barry walks over to the bodies and squats down, looking at it. He stays there for a minute, looking it over, and when he stands up, his face is blank.

“These are humans. Or, I don’t know, they _were_ , it’s like… It’s like they’ve been cobbled together. Bits and pieces of bodies mashed together. Like-” he points to the body he was just looking at- “that one has two different legs, one is longer than the other, and the arms are the same. It’s fucking weird.”

“Well, maybe that explains the bits and pieces of people all over the place. Are these experiments? Is somebody building these?”

“I still think it’s biological. Some kind of infection. If I could cut one open…” Barry frowns. 

“We don’t have time for that, not right now. Maybe if we find the med bay, but we need to keep going. I still think the living quarters are the best place to go. If there are people alive, they’ve probably barricaded themselves in their rooms. That’s what I’d do.”

“I agree with Magnus. Living quarters, survivors, go from there. We’ve gotta be getting close.” Lup squints. “I think that’s a door ahead. Let’s keep moving.”

As they pass the fallen monsters, Lucretia and Barry look for possible entry points, but they don’t see any.

“Maybe they were just… lying in wait. That felt like an ambush, though.” Lucretia switches her comm to recording mode, and starts to mumble notes into it.

“We need a name for them. It feels weird to not have a name.”

“Nasty boys,” Taako says, and Merle laughs.

As Lup presses the button to open the door, she keeps her weapon at the ready. There’s nothing on the other side, though, and she breathes a sigh of relief she didn’t realize she was holding.

This new stretch of hallway is lined with doors on either side of it, and each door has a nameplate. 

“I think we found the living quarters. Should we just start going through rooms?”

“That sounds like the best plan. Let’s split up- groups of three- and check these out. Watch each others’ backs and be careful. Luc, Magnus, Merle, you guys take the room on the left. We’ll check the right.” Lup carefully opens the door on the right, and shines her light in. “Anyone here?” 

There’s a muffled noise towards the back of the quarters, and Barry and Taako follow Lup inside. 

“Alright, guess we’re checking this one.” Magnus opens the left door quickly and steps inside. “It’s a nice place. Cute rug.”

“Hello?” Lucretia calls softly. “Is anyone here?” 

In response, there’s a shuffling noise and a gurgle from the room down the hall. Lucretia and Magnus exchange a look, and Magnus raises his plasma cutter and inches towards the room. It’s only a second before a monster comes tearing out of the room, shrieking and flailing its too-many limbs desperately. Magnus is ready for it- he takes a step back, finds his balance, and shoots once, twice, three times to take off an arm and decapitate it. When it hits the ground it twitches for a second, then stills. 

Merle walks over to it, toes it onto its back. “Hoo boy. This was a lady. Pretty one too- I mean, probably.”

“Don’t be gross,” Lucretia says, and steps over the body to look into the room. A quick sweep with her light reveals it to be just a bedroom. She keeps moving. 

“I’m not being gross. I’m performing last rites.”

“Aren’t those usually done before the person dies?”

Merle shrugs, and whatever his rebuttal is, it’s tuned out when Lucretia sees a notebook on the nightstand in the next bedroom.

“Hey, I found something that might be useful. Maybe whoever this belongs to knows what happened. We should look at the last entry.”

Magnus steps into the room behind her and picks it up. The notebook is tattered and stained and the binding is coming undone. There’s no label on the cover, but a scrawl on the inside reads “Lucas Miller- Notes” and there are dozens of sticky notes tabbing the pages. Magnus flips through them until he finds the last page that’s been written on.

“Uh… I can’t read the date, this handwriting is really bad, but this is the last entry. Hold on.” Magnus clears his throat, and begins to read. “I think I figured out what makes the infection spread so fast. There’s no chance for a real onset because the viral load is so high. A single…” He squints. “Oh, a single milligram of flesh contains over one million viral copies, and I’m still working on counts for a milliliter of blood. Still don’t know why they try to amass flesh. I’m headed for Hyperion to talk to Mom right now. Bringing samples. Hopefully nobody asks any questions about my cooler.

“There’s some weird scribbles and then there’s more at the bottom of the page. It’s really hard to read, this Lucas guy sucks at writing. Uh… Okay.” Magnus clears his throat. “Arrived safe. Mom is in a meeting right now so I’m waiting in her room. Left the cooler in the spare bedroom. This is a revolutionary discovery. The first step to prevention. Not to get too ahead of myself, but this could prevent another Aegis VII. Not that the Unitologists would like that. Crazy fucks. Sorry, I said I was going to stop getting political in my lab notebook.”

He closes the book and looks up. “That’s all it said other than the scribbles, but those weren’t English. What the fuck does all that mean?”

Merle switches on his flashlight and shines it around the room. A flash of blue by the bed catches his eye, and he moves towards it. It’s a cooler, blue with a white lid, but the lid has been pushed off. The bottom of the lid is covered in dark red smears, and when he looks in the cooler, he gags.

There are several fleshy, bloody chunks in vacuum-sealed bags, along with vials of clear fluids and multiple ice packs. Most notably, in the middle of everything is a container that has had its lid torn off. Inside of it is bloody, and there’s a clear trail of blood and viscera leading up the side of the cooler. Merle follows the trail with his flashlight, notices the smears leading across the bedsheet and pillow and up the wall towards the air duct.

“Oh, fuck,” he says.

\---

Lup, Taako, and Barry find their first survivor holed up in what appears to be a study. The man hiding under the desk is scrawny and looks like a walking embodiment of the nerd stereotype. He's got big round glasses and curly, out-of-control hair, and he's wearing a lab coat stained with ink, blood, and a kind of brown slime. He looks terrified, and Lup sees he's got a scalpel clutched in one hand and a crumpled paper in the other. He knits his brows when he sees the three of them, and lowers the scalpel slightly but keeps it clutched tight in his hand.

“Who are you?” His wavering, nasally voice only amplifies the aura of nerdiness.

“Who the fuck are _you_?” asks Taako.

“Lucas. Lucas Miller. Who are-”

“We’re with the CEC. We’re responding to a distress signal. What the hell _happened_ here?” Lup shines the light on her pulse rifle around the room, examining the damage. Shelves are knocked over and papers are scattered all over the floor, but there doesn’t seem to be any blood.

“I- I don’t know, I was just visiting and suddenly all this freaky stuff started happening and people are dead and-”

“Slow down, m’dude, it’s hard enough to understand you when you’re talking at normal human speed.”

Lucas squints at Taako like he’s confused, then like he’s mad. “That’s kind of rude-”

“Listen, Lucas, right? Lucas, you need to come with us. We’re gonna get you to safety but we need to move.” Barry walks over to him slowly, like he’s approaching a wild animal, and offers a hand. Lucas drops the scalpel in his pocket and takes Barry’s hand, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He sways unsteadily before leaning against the table.

“Something went really fucking wrong here. I don’t know what caused this or what those _things_ are, but you’ve gotta help me find my mom.”

“Is she still alive?” Lup asks quietly. Lucas nods.

“She has to be. I mean… she _has_ to be.”

Barry, Taako, and Lup look at each other, and Lup nods. Taako leaves the study, and Barry turns to Lucas.

“We’re gonna take you back to our ship. Our captain will help you, treat you, whatever. But you’ll stay there and we’ll find your mom and any other survivors.”

Lucas presses his lips together, looking like he’s going to object but before he can, Taako comes back into the room with a grimace on his face.

“Bad news. Looks like the only door outta here went into quarantine mode or something because that boy is locked AF.”

Lup drops her head back and swears. “And there’s no other door out of here?”

“Noooope.”

“Gods damn it. That figures. Okay,” she looks around the room and her eyes land on a grate on the wall. “Hope none of you are claustrophobic.”

Barry follows her eyes and frowns. “Is that really our only option?”

“It’s the best we’ve got for now. Help me move this desk. We need to get out of here ASAP.” As Lup and Barry push the desk so it’s underneath the grate, Taako picks up his comm.

“Hey, Luc? Maggie? Merle? We kinda got locked in so we’re gonna have to crawl through the air ducts. Just keep looking for survivors. We’ll let you know where we end up and we’ll meet up then.”

“Alright. Be careful.” Lucretia sounds distracted. “We found something that might be important. I’ll fill you in when we meet up.”

“Roger that. See you in a few.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, comments and kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
